Friday, March 25, 2011

Some News for Friday, March 25, 2011

As our Dear Leader - El Brucio - is off to Ciudad Nueva York and Nueva Jersey for the USMNT v Argentina match at New Meadowlands Stadium, Joe the Curmudgeon is here to make sure you have all the fixture info for the weekend.

Also, this headline just in from USSoccer.com:U.S. MNT to Face 2010 FIFA World Cup Champion Spain on June 4 in Foxborough, Mass.

Back to Saturday's match: US v Argentina is expected to have over 65,000 on hand by kickoff. It snowed on Tuesday at the stadium, but it should be in good shape for gameday.

If you can't be there like Dear Leader, the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and Univision, and online at ESPN3.com. Fans can also follow the match on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker and on Twitter @ussoccer.

The US will be playing in their new, third kit, featuring Red jerseys including a slogan provided by the Twitter community. Steve Cherundolo (groin), Stuart Holden (knee) and Zak Whitbread (back) are all out of the match.

As @LandonDonovan tweets: Alright, 2 ways to win. 1.) Top 3 donators go into a raffle to win the jersey I wear on Saturday. - 2.) People that donate $34 or more get a piece of the jersey I wear in the second half. I'll cut it up and send each person a swab of it - 3.) Go to this page to donate and add the hashtag #redallover in the "middle name" section of the donation page 4.)Top 3 donators so far are $1,000/$500/$300!!! Over 100 people have donated $34 and will get a piece of the jersey tmrw. Thank you so much! 5) You have 'til midnight Pacific Time tomorrow night to donate. Here's the link, keep it going!!! http://bit.ly/gRYDC9...

Since Landon is off on national team duty, the one and only David Beckman has been handed the captaincy by LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena for Saturday's night match at Real Salt Lake.

The next few days are official FIFA International dates, so many club leagues are off so their prime players can join their respective national sides. Besides many international friendlies happening, EURO 2012 qualifying resumes. Here's a look at those fixures first:

==========================================EURO 2012 QUALIFIERSAll Times US Eastern

Friday, March 25

Group AAustria 0:2 Belgium

Group CSerbia 2:1 Northern Ireland

Group EHungary 0:4 Netherlands

Group CSlovenia 0:1 Italy

Group DLuxembourg 0:2 France

Group ISpain 2:1 Czech Republic

Saturday, March 26

Group B 11:00 AM - espn3.com Armenia v Russia

Group G 11:00 AM - espn3.com Wales v England

Group G 12:45 PM Bulgaria v Switzerland

Group F 1:00 PM Georgia v Croatia

Group H 2:00 PM Cyprus v Iceland

Group F 2:05 PM Israel v Latvia

Group D 2:15 PM Bosnia-Herzegovina v Romania

Group A 3:00 PM - espn3.com Germany v Kazakhstan

Group B 3:00 PM Andorra v Slovakia

Group D 3:00 PM Albania v Belarus

Group H 3:00 PM - espn3.comNorway v Denmark

Group F 3:30 PM - espn3.com Malta v Greece

Group B 3:45 PM - espn3.com Ireland v Macedonia

Tuesday, March 29

Group I 11:30 AM - espn3.comCzech Republic v Liechtenstein

Group E 1:00 PM Sweden v Moldova

Group F 1:05 PM Israel v Georgia

Group A 1:30 PM Turkey v Austria

Group D 1:45 PM Romania v Luxembourg

Group C 2:30 PM Estonia v Serbia

Group E 2:30 PM - espn3.comNetherlands v Hungary

Group A 2:45 PM Belgium v Azerbaijan

Group C 2:45 PM Northern Ireland v Slovenia

Group I 2:45 PM - espn3.comLithuania v Spain

==========================================INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIESAll Times US Eastern

Friday, March 25

South Korea 4:0 Honduras

China 1:1 New Zealand

Estonia 2:0 Uruguay

Montenegro 1:0 Uzbekistan

Lithuania 2:0 Poland

10:00 PM Panama v Bolivia

Saturday, March 26

1:00 PM Colombia v Ecuador

4:45 PM - espn3.comPortugal v Chile

5:00 PM Mexico v Paraguay

7:00 PM - espn3.comUnited States v Argentina

Sunday, March 279:00 AM Scotland v Brazil

Tuesday, March 296:00 AM South Korea v Montenegro

6:35 AM China v Honduras

1:30 PM Cyprus v Bulgaria

11:30 AM Qatar v Russia

11:00 AM Belarus v Canada

12:00 PM Ecuador v Peru

2:15 PM Slovakia v Denmark

2:30 PM Colombia v Chile

2:30 PM Greece v Poland

2:45 PM - espn3.comGermany v Australia

2:45 PM - espn3.comIreland v Uruguay

2:45 PM Ukraine v Italy

3:00 PM - espn3.comFrance v Croatia

3:00 PM England v Ghana

3:45 PM - espn3.comPortugal v Finland

8:00 PM United States v Paraguay

10:00 PM Costa Rica v Argentina

11:00 PM Mexico v Venezuela

==========================================ARGENTINA PRIMERA A - ClausuraAll Times US Eastern

ENDERS==========================================Oh, and be sure to look for a post from Graham over the weekend. He's in KC and maybe he'll get some face time with Mr. Chad Ochocinco, the Cincinnati Bengals star receiver who is trying out for Sporting Kansas City in wake of the NFL lockout. Or, maybe Graham will write about the crazy winter runs he does. But probably, he'll write about his chat with Tony Meola!